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New Honda Crosstour getting four cylinder engine

Honda is launching a new Crosstour with a four-cylinder motor to punch up sales. Photo Credit: Tabercil/Wikimedia Commons/CC-BY

Honda is looking to punch up sales for its small crossover, the Crosstour. The Accord-based crossover is getting a four-cylinder engine for the next model year.

Crosstour sales need punching up

Honda is looking to punch up sales of the Crosstour crossover utility vehicle (CUV). According to AutoBlog, only 16,679 of them were sold between January and the end of November this year in the U.S., a 36 percent decline from that same period in 2010. During that time, the Crosstour sold 25,927 units, though its target had been 40,000 per year, when it was launched in late 2009 as a 2010 model.

Honda, however, is making a quick addition to the Crosstour lineup that it hopes will punch up Crosstour sales.

New Crosstour to get four-cylinder

In order to try to boost the lagging sales of the crossover, according to the Chicago Tribune, Honda is launching a new Crosstour with a four-cylinder engine with 192 horsepower and 24 mpg combined. The car usually comes with a 271-horsepower V-6 in both EX and EX-L trims, which gets 18 city, 27 highway and 21 combined.

The four cylinder, according to Car and Driver, is the 2.4-liter four-cylinder that comes in the Accord, the sedan upon which the five-door utility is based. The car will also no longer going to be referred to as the Accord Crosstour, as in previous model years, but just the Crosstour. The four-cylinder Crosstour will not be available in four-wheel-drive, as the six-cylinder version is for the EX-L trim. Prices aren’t available, but according to the Chicago Tribune, the four-cylinder Crosstour is going to be priced lower than the regular model. It will go one sale sometime in January.

Some serious competing to do

The base six-cylinder Crossstour EX trim, according to Honda, is $30,340. It will have some serious competition as a four-cylinder crossover. Assuming a price above $25,000, it will have the $23,295 Subaru Outback and $20,595 Forester to contend with, both of which come with full time all-wheel-drive, though the Outback gets worse gas mileage. There is also the $21,580 Nissan Rogue, which gets comparable mileage.

There is also the Ford Escape, which gets 23 mpg city, and the base model starts at $21,440, and the Toyota RAV-4, which also gets better city mileage and starts at $22,475. Mazda has both the $20,555 Tribute and the $21,990 CX-7. Kia offers the Sportage and Sorrento, both of which get better mileage and price at $18,500 and $23,150, respectively.